Best Time to Exercise, Lab Grown Meat & Microplastics

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0:59Welcome to The Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. and we are your hosts. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhianna Lambert. And today we are diving into some juicy topics as chosen by you. So each week on Thursdays, we are going to be choosing all your questions and going through them. So we can give you the 101 on all things health and wellness and then Mondays, that's when we'll focus on the headlines, the trends, what on earth is going on in the world of health and wellness. And Rhianna, what recommendations have you got for us this week anything good? I do I actually have good ones and the first one is thanks to you because do you remember we were discussing our red masks our red light masks?

1:41LED red light masks. Yes those are the ones and my one didn't go all the way around my face and I was really happy with it but then Ella said she had one that kind of goes I saw it on your stories it went under the chin right? Oh yeah it's like weird looking I mean it's the current body LED mask and it completely covers your face and your chin and whenever I have it on my husband looks over to me being like this is so weird what is going on you know what I'm joining the game so I've ordered it I'm waiting for it to arrive and that's going to be my new I'm not doing the Kim Kardashian 50 quid tightening my face so I'm going to invest in this instead so that's recommendation number one we'll let you know how I get on and you know what on that we we've covered it a few times on the main podcast but if you guys want to vote on led masks etc pop um any questions comments in the show sorry in the comments on spotify or apple or send us a message because we went through this actually with an amazing dermatologist in terms of the fizzy exactly what actually supports healthy aging and fine lines and glowing skin something that i think we're probably all in pursuit of well most of us and led masks actually have really really really amazing research behind them so they are an investment, but they are actually an evidence-based one, which I think is something that's very important to us both.

3:01Honestly, I wouldn't buy into it if there wasn't any evidence behind it. So I'm really excited about that. The second recommendation is very odd for me, I will say, to recommend this. I've had my thoughts on the Diary of a CEO podcast since it's released, but I have to say this discussion was one that pulled me in and they were discussing chat GPT. I always say it wrong. I used to call it chat GBT. You know, when you first, in fact, Ella, backstory guys, Ella first introduced me to chat GPT when we were on the photo shoot for the podcast last year. Oh my gosh, was that the first time? Yeah, that's the first time I'd heard of it.

3:41You were like, you really need to check out this chat GPT. And I was like, oh, what is this? Basically, the experts, you had two different scientific experts, neurologists, I believe, Eve, don't quote me on that exactly. I'm only halfway through, but it's really instilled how grateful I am to have written my six books without it, first of all, to use my brain in a way. But we are becoming so dependent on it very, very quickly. And they were saying there's ways of using it, which mean you don't lose those areas in your brain that are responsible for the hard work and the thought process that we put into everyday actions.

4:19The way you speak to it, Should you say thank you after you've typed something? What type of prompts are you giving? So there's a way of basically abusing it and using it. I think you'd love it, Ella. It sounds amazing. I've just looked it up. The episode is called ChatGPT Brain Rot Debate, the fastest way to get dementia. Watch this before using ChatGPT again. And I think what it's about is MIT had just announced that AI is rotting your brain. And he had two world leading experts kind of break down the study and look at how AI and chat TPT, which is obviously the most kind of commonly used AI, I think for most people can silently shrink your brain, kill creativity and wreck your memory.

4:58Naturally, I had to tune in. Yeah. So there was a psychiatrist on there and someone who's a pioneer in the field of compute computational, sorry, I didn't know that word neuroscience. So that sounds absolutely fascinating. I am going to watch that and we'll put that in thank you for that rack i need some dog walking recommendations you do and my final one my final wreck is that my book's out in america this month oh congratulations thank you anyone in america that you've messaged me saying i can't order it it is because it wasn't there and now now it's going to be there september 23rd the unprocessed plate oh i'm thrilled for you that's such a big thing well done ella give me your recs you gave us some books on monday's episode so now we need your recommendation.

5:42I know I gave you three books on Monday's episode, which I feel like was really stealing from my recommendation pot of having good stuff each week to share with you guys. You know what? I'm going to give you a really niche recommendation this week, which I like to do from time to time. And that is pearl barley. It's one of those grains that I feel we don't really talk about, doesn't get much love. Rice is, you know, obviously kind of the most commonly used grain and then pasta. And then maybe it's like quinoa or something like that. oats obviously for porridge but pearl barley is so delicious it has a kind of nuttier flavor it has a sort of slightly chunkier chewier texture than quinoa quinoa is super nutritious but i don't think it's that delicious it's great as a base of a kind of bowl of roasted veggies and with loads of dips and like delicious dressings and stuff like that but it needs i think quinoa needs quite a lot to make it sing and really pop whereas barley is actually so delicious anyway i made it last night with loads of roast carrots, which I roasted with maple and chili, and then pan-fried pine nuts, sage, chili, loads and loads of coriander, cooked the barley with a little bit of miso, and just made this really delicious salad, some roasted chickpeas on the top.

6:53But it's just a really nice chunky base. And obviously, we always talk about 30 plants a week, needing that diversity for your gut. So my recommendation is swap out your rice or your kind of go-to grains for some barley this week and you can batch cook it as well it does take like 40 minutes to cook which is its only downside but you don't have to do anything while it cooks you know just be in the room but yeah top up the water exactly um so do really recommend doing a batch of that if you want to get that diversity in and switch up your grains order some pearl barley I love pearl barley I think I had a recipe in the book I love it it's it's kind of like thicker and rounder and larger than a grain of rice.

7:30Very chewy. It looks a bit like giant couscous in a way. Like it's that kind of chunkier. Chuck it in soups, guys. Just put it in your soup. Oh my gosh. I'm like a kind of, I mean, I probably shouldn't call it minestrone because there'll be Italians rolling their eyes at me. But like, I mean, let's call it minestrone inspired. Is anything we do here really Italian? We serve a pizza. Is it Italian? We don't do you justice. Put pineapple on it. Yeah. I love it though. I love a pineapple pizza. Do you? Yes. I'm one of those I'm a sinner I even tried dried mango on a pizza it was so good I know you're Ella's face I was obsessed to dry mango my pregnancy I would go for like bags of it so to have it on a pizza I was like oh I'm unconvinced guys Ella let's move on let's move on to our listener questions first of all you have to tell us if you think that's gross or not

8:24okay listener questions as always just a reminder i'm happy for anyone to email them to me ella at deliciousiella.com pop them on the spotify apple podcast comments please leave your name if you can because it's just really nice to know about you guys you can put them in our direct messages but it's probably the number one place they might get lost so those are the easiest ways Okay, so our first question is from Laura. My mum and I came to a wonderful live podcast event in the summer and we were really fascinated by what you shared about fiber potentially helping to flush out accumulated microplastics.

8:57I'd love to know, is there any guidance on how much fiber we'd need daily for this to have a meaningful impact? And are certain types of fiber more effective than others when it comes to supporting detox pathways in this way? What a great question. Amazing question. And something just to let you know, Laura, that I'm writing a lot on that I I cannot wait to share more of you soon. But emerging research does suggest that dietary fiber does play a protective role in reducing so basically how the plastics are absorbed and how long they sit in our body. And microplastics are teeny, teeny, tiny. And sadly, you know, we get a lot of them in our diet.

9:33Even paper coffee cups in a barista will have a thin layer of plastic inside it. And when we put boiling liquid in, we're obviously going to be leaching those. and you know I do it sometimes I get a hot matcha latte or something or a cappuccino on the go and it's just in everyday life now so essentially to cut to the chase fiber increases store bulk which is what we need which binds to toxins and particles in the gut that's a huge part of excreting what we don't want in our body and it does accelerate the transit times of how fast things go through our intestines, which may help trap and facilitate those microplastics before they get through the intestinal barrier.

10:17So remember, where we absorb our vitamins and minerals is through that small intestine lining. And there's lots of different pathways that happen here. So although research in this area is still developing, Ella, we've got these findings that I've been writing about that high fiber diets do reduce microplastic-induced gut inflammation, and promote their clearance. It's just really, really important that we get enough of it in. What a reason to make pearl barley this week. Yes. Do you know, I think I might go and do it. It is extraordinary, isn't it? And I think this idea that actually having enough fiber, that actually these particles can be taken out of your system before they can be absorbed is absolutely fascinating.

11:02And I think it's really funny with the way that we eat because you're tired, it's been a long day. And, you know, you kind of think, oh, does it really matter what I have for dinner? And these are sort of invisible things happening in our body that remind us like kind of does. And, you know, make that broccoli and pearl barley. But when we're looking at the best sources of food to consume for the different types of fiber, Rhi, will you just run us through kind of insoluble versus soluble fiber? Because I think it's really helpful. Obviously, we need both, but it's quite helpful to have a sense of what's going on for both.

11:35Yeah, 100%, because you do need both of those types of fibers to help promote, you know, the greatest protection. So the soluble fiber binds and traps and insoluble makes sure you're clear. But basically, insoluble, think of oats when you add them to a glass of water. They'll disintegrate. That means they're soluble. But if you put some broccoli in a glass of water, it's not going to break down. It's just going to sit there for a while because it's got more insoluble fiber. and those are foods such as you know whole wheat brown nuts seeds you know vegetables it basically adds bulk to stools and accelerates the transit time so pushes things through and it's like a sweeping action of insoluble fiber just imagine it's pushing everything through our gut carrying out all those microplastics things we don't want it's all whooshing through whereas on the other hand the soluble one like the oats that dissolve in the glass of water and some sorts of legumes and flax seeds, all that sort of thing, form a gel.

12:33And you'll have heard of this with phacillium husk, you know, the supplement we discussed before. So this gel-like structure traps small particles, including microplastics. It binds bile acids and toxins, and it slows down the absorption and improves our blood sugar control, basically, and helps with cholesterol, which is why there's that claim that oats, because they contain beta-glucan, are good for people with higher cholesterol levels. So essentially you want both of those to sweep everything through and one to bulk it up, to bind and trap everything. And that's how we make poo. Just to put it out there, that's how it happens.

13:09I think it's really helpful. It is. And I think the other thing I'd say is for your 30 grams of fiber a day, it's actually not as difficult as it sounds. I was just looking, there's lots of examples out there online. This is one that was on the Telegraph. What does 30 grams of fiber look like? And for breakfast, it could be two thick slices of wholemeal toast with a banana and a small glass of fruit smoothie. Lunch, baked potato with 200 grams of baked beans in tomato sauce and then an apple. A small handful of nuts for your snack and a mixed veggie curry with some rice for dinner. So nothing kind of wild going on there, like pretty basic fruit, veg, baked potatoes, baked beans, you know, very simple bananas, apples.

13:52so it's totally plausible to get 30 grams of fiber a day and keep for the best gut clearance foods with skins on i cannot emphasize enough even when you opt for oats going for the unkind of ground down don't go for the ready brett go for the whole rolled oats you know there's this difference in the type of foods obviously all of these options are good so rather you have it than not have it but if you really are looking at supporting your bowel movements try and eat the apple with the skin on for instance and one piece of advice for busy people with the oats example is that as you said porridge oats not quite as beneficial as the whole rolled kind of jumbo oats but those obviously take a lot longer to cook if you're going to make porridge those you need to cook for a solid 20 minutes plus whereas porridge oats are ready as soon as they're hot basically you know two to three minutes so what i do with the um jumbo oats is soak them overnight you can just leave them in some milk whatever milk you're going to cook your porridge with overnight and like you're making overnight oats and then when it comes to the morning they will have softened so that actually you just need to cook them for a few minutes again like five minutes will suffice and then it's much more like cooking porridge oats in the morning because obviously you have to be a little bit organized to do that and know you want porridge in the morning but it will keep it's not like you have to eat them that morning they'll be fine it's a great tip what a hack everybody i love a good hack soak your oats overnight yeah definitely and then maybe just sprinkle a few just a tiny amount that are fresh out the packet just to get that extra fiber in on top and you're like winning yeah everyone's a winner but yeah soak the big oats and then you won't need the porridge oats I love that question two Ella from Amy okay Amy says I'm going through some big things myself are you able to share what you do to support your mental and physical health in times of stress what helps you find these moments of calm what Amy sending so much love to you thank you for sharing that I'm sure there's a lot of people who will relate to what you're saying.

15:47Rhi, what are your kind of big focuses when it comes to feeling grounded and trying to find calm in amongst all the chaos? I'm still on this journey very much because I have breathing pattern disorder and I've had it for a while. I've known about it for the last year since it got diagnosed. So I'm very much still on my pathway but my big thing now is going to be to try and read more at bedtime I think and to keep carving out a bit of time for me but I think Ella I'm more in awe of how you have managed over your course with setting up the business or the personal ups downs and you're navigating your relationship with Matt and still finding moments of calm and obviously what your condition in the early days and how you've navigated that I think your tips are probably best placed here to be honest than mine no I know definitely not no look I think you know first of all Amy I'm so sorry you're going through some big things and I think the world's so strange isn't it because we all go through these huge changes in life you know it's that classic saying like the only certainty in life is uncertainty and it's such a weird world isn't it where you like get on the train or the tube in the morning and you're surrounded by people and probably a whole host of them are going through really difficult things at the moment.

17:09But we so rarely talk about it and we say to each other, how are you? And the other person says, I'm great. And actually you're kind of crumbling beneath it all. And so I think it's so important to be open about this. And I think it's funny, my father-in-law always says, you've got to say it out loud when you're having a good time. And currently I feel like I'm very blessed and very lucky and I am having a great time and there's lots of change at the moment, but I feel like we're in an amazing place. But yes, I've certainly been through some really difficult times over the last kind of 10 years or so.

17:39And I think for me, it's just coming back to small, simple habits that genuinely feel achievable for you. And I think one of the best examples for me was I remember, so this is 2017. And, you know, I've talked about this a little bit before, but we were a few years into setting up the business. And it was that kind of core startup phase where, I mean, we were just working like literally like really no exaggeration kind of 18 hours a day seven days a week 52 weeks a year and we were so stressed and it was so fun but we were so stressed and overwhelmed at all times and in the midst of that my mother-in-law was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and over the next 11 months she kind of went through treatment and and surgeries but she kind of declined week on week each week each weekend that we'd go to see her she was notably worse and and she died within the year.

18:31And I think it was such an example for me of this idea that like, you can eat all the broccoli you want and all the rest of it. And, you know, A, there's no guarantees in life, but B, it was, you know, I felt so all over the place watching a kind of, yeah, extended family go through such a difficult time. And it was such a reminder. And I think it was when Matt and I both got quite into meditation and mindfulness and breath work as these very, you know of course 10 minutes of breath work in the morning isn't going to change the reality of what he was going through and what his family were going through but it was a moment of grounding and a moment of kind of trying to have a level of empowerment and calm and connection and when things are so up in the air and I think you know it's so easy for these things to seem like yeah breathing in a midst of all the chaos and the world does feel so chaotic at the moment but I I think if you can find a few small achievable practices that really help you and it, you know, definitely doesn't need to be breath work or mindfulness or meditation, you know, it might be reading, it might be sewing, it might be walking your dog quietly.

19:36But I think if you can find small things that make you feel grounded in amongst the chaos that you can keep coming back to, that's probably my biggest recommendation. And I think it's, you know, it's easy to make these grand sweeping gestures. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. But actually it's these simple things that are really doable that can be that kind of daily-ish habit that you can kind of do anywhere, anytime that I think are the most important thing in time of stress. I think grounding is the key word there, isn't it? It brings me back to therapy. Actually, they always say, try and think of a safe space when you're going through stress and things that ground you.

20:12It's really solid. And obviously, Adi, you went through so much then as well thank you both of you for sharing it's a lot I think it's just um gosh life just throws it doesn't it sometimes and it always rains it never quite just pours does it as they say

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22:23Visit Strayer.edu slash Jack Welch MBA to learn more. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Shev and as many campuses, including at 2121 15th Street North in Arlington, Virginia. We have now, Ella, a very different question from Christine. Christine has asked something that so many of you have been asking us to cover for quite a long time. Christine said, I have a question about nutrition after menopause. I just can't seem to get it right and need help on what I should be eating. Thanks so much. yeah I'm so glad we're talking about this thank you Christine and as Rhys said we've had so many questions on this and just to echo that again like thank you so much for your questions I let us know how helpful these episodes are but it feels really nice to be able to get into a little bit more detail of everything you guys are asking about I'm certainly I mean I'm 34 now and I'm certainly kind of very conscious that this is coming up and I feel really grateful that menopause and perimenopause is much more of a conversation than I think it was a few decades ago.

23:20But it is really intimidating. And there is so much information as a result, so much misinformation. So yeah, I'm absolutely thrilled that we're talking about it. Rhi, in terms of what we should be eating, is there any kind of core research or evidence out there in terms of diet? We're getting there. We're getting there. It's really difficult because there isn't tons. What we do need to consider, first of all, is our bone health, because we know that as the hormone estrogen decline, you know, accelerates, our bone loss risk gets higher in terms of bone mass density. So raising the osteoporosis risk, and we need to be consuming more calcium than we did before.

23:58That doesn't mean go and drink a load of milk. It actually means more things like leafy greens, sesame seeds, dried apricots, tofu, you know, so many different sources, almonds, like we spoke about on Monday's episode, are a source as well. And then vitamin D, of course, we need to be thinking about bone health, first of all, then we need to be thinking of plant based diets, because there's so much research, again, on more plants here, because our risk of all sorts of conditions, once we lose oestrogen, not lose, but once it declines, increases. And that includes our elevated risk of heart disease, because heart disease actually affects more females than men.

24:35I don't think people realise that they often think of it as being this male dominated condition, but our risk goes up massively when our oestrogen declines so what we need to do is get more fiber in which we've spoken about earlier so i hope fiber is helpful and really on that it came out oh it must have been six 12 months ago or so but there was a very big randomized control study looking at a plant-based diet for menopause and i'm just on the paper now and the conclusion of the paper was the combination of a low-fat vegan diet with whole soybeans so that's things like tofu, soy milks, et cetera, were associated with reduced frequency and severity of hot flashes and improved quality of life in vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains in postmenopausal women.

25:19So there is quite a lot of evidence out there, which is really interesting in terms of a plant-based diet and menopause. The soy angle is what's linked the isoflavones in soy, so phytoestrogens, is what's linked to our hot flashes, they call in America, or hot flush symptoms. So it's linked to symptoms. But we have to remember it's over in Asia, they don't consume dairy like we do over here. Yet they have lower rates of osteoporosis and they have lower reported symptoms of experiencing negative side effects of menopause than we do over here in the UK and probably the same in America. So I think we need to pull a bit more inspiration from their diets.

26:00Now, there's also the argument, oh, but they consume more meat than we do over here. and there's all sorts of debates in the scientific world like well they don't eat dairy but we do here in dairy xyz and meat xyz but the underlying message is if you can get soy and beans and pulses and flax seeds and omega-3s those healthy fats those lovely protein sources from beans that is massively going to help you as you go through menopause hugely also because of the gut link so it's the messaging that's sent from our gut also the gut brain axis do you know what it was that moderate to severe hot flashes or hot flushes were reduced back to 88 % in a plant-based diet rich in soy which is absolutely humongous and if you're not cooking a lot of soy at the moment I think tofu can be a bit of an intimidating one to start with even the milk counts yeah exactly and just using that in your porridge soak your oats in soy milk for example guys it does count I remember when I wrote the science of plant-based nutrition we had a page with a big picture of tofu on it and it says you need up to like 100 grams a day or something or two portions of it.

27:05And Dr. Mark Messina is one of the leading researchers over in America who did this research. And then I think another two things to remember as well, guys, is that iron, of course, after menstruation ends, iron requirements drop. So our whole lives, we've been worried about iron. It's so common, iron deficiency. That's one positive is that we don't need to be as conscious of it. Women may no longer need those supplements and then hydration caffeine and alcohol as we lose estrogen as with everything else and body fat distributions change we become more sensitive to alcohol and to caffeine than we ever were before and it's suggested we reduce them massively because reducing caffeine can ease night sweats and other symptoms so caffeine actually isn't so great as we get older for women so interesting it's the ultimate example as well of the fact that all of this is so nuanced isn't it?

27:57Because it's like coffee's a superfood and it's like, well, yes, coffee has some benefits, but it depends on the environment and the person and all the rest of it. If you're a man or a woman, it's just like biology. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So we're really flipping around today. Melissa has asked, what are your thoughts on lab grown meat? Which I thought was such a great question and such an interesting one. And it's funny, there's been quite a lot of kind of press recently being kind kind of is veganism over, is plant-based over? And it feels like the trend quote unquote has passed. But actually, I think from an environmental perspective, this is such an interesting area of research and development within the food industry, because the food industry is obviously such a huge player when it comes to the environment and the concerns that we all have around that.

28:43And the food industry is actually responsible for kind of 25 to 30 % of total global greenhouse gas emissions and obviously the effect of that on climate change and also a huge contributor for deforestation as well as having a big impact on water pollution for example as well so yeah the food industry is hugely problematic in lots of ways when it comes to climate change and obviously we you know we've had the hottest year on record again etc etc so it all feels very very relevant Ri I know you did a lot of research into this though when you were writing about the science of plant-based nutrition.

29:17Can you tell us a little bit more around, I don't actually know much of the science of lab-grown meat and the kind of health angle of it. You're right though, it's environmental discussion massively and ethical. The ethics of course is that you're not having to actually kill an animal to produce the meat. So that's a real win, right? If we can produce meat that people enjoy in the same way. And the environmental is just staggering as Ella has listed here because the process basically begins by taking a small sample of muscle cells from a living animal and then scientists explain that the animal may feel only a brief sensation with that.

29:53I mean there's a huge moral compass of everything in life at the moment but then these cells are then placed into what we call bioreactors where they're kind of nurtured in a special solution full of different vitamins, minerals, nutrition that allows them to grow and multiply into muscle tissue. I mean, how crazy that we're able to grow meat. And I guess we can grow plants. So they're thinking, why not grow a cell that is muscle tissue essentially to recreate the familiar structure of meat. Remember meat is muscle guys. I think it's really important to remember that it's muscle tissue. And I think sometimes we have this disconnect.